


At the Hot Topical

by MittenWraith



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Episode: s10e20 Angel Heart, M/M, Missing Scene, Shopping Malls, The Hot Topical
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-30
Updated: 2015-04-30
Packaged: 2018-03-26 10:56:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3848359
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MittenWraith/pseuds/MittenWraith
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dean and Cas have just dropped Sam off at the motel to wait for Claire. Cas remembers something important.</p>
            </blockquote>





	At the Hot Topical

"It’s her birthday today. Claire's eighteenth birthday. I should get her a gift. Her father would’ve bought her a gift.” Cas looked down at his hands. Claire’s father’s hands once upon a time, but now they belonged to him.

They hadn’t even left the parking lot yet, which was probably a good thing, because Dean would’ve likely driven off the road otherwise. Cas paid no mind to Dean’s more-aggressive-than-usual stop before they turned into traffic.

“You don’t have to replace her dad, Cas. That’s not… it’s not your responsibility to be…” Dean sighed and rubbed a hand over his mouth as he tried to focus on the road and find just the right words, because he had nothing. “She knows you’re you, and not her father. She doesn’t expect you to try to be him.”

Cas turned and stared at Dean, blinking away the guilt that had been mounting up since the day Jimmy had said yes to him. “I still feel like someone should get her a birthday present. And who else will do that for her now?”

Dean thought back to all the times he was the only one to get Sam a present. Sure, most of them were bullshit things he could steal without risking getting caught, but it’s the thought that counts, right? At least Sam always knew someone cared enough to remember his birthday. Their Dad never bothered with anything as frivolous as gifts, whether on birthdays or at Christmas or whenever. Dean knew how much it sucked to sit alone with nothing more than a slice of pie at a diner while whispering the birthday song to himself under his breath.

Dean cleared his throat and yanked himself out of his wallowing pit of unhappy birthday memories. “Yeah, yeah. I get that. How about we stop somewhere and pick something out for her?”

Cas visibly brightened. “You mean that, Dean? It’s not too much trouble?”

Dean forced a smile, and glanced at Cas. “Yeah. No trouble at all. Sam’ll have everything under control at the motel. It's still pretty early and I doubt the douchebag’s even at the bar yet. We drove past a mall this afternoon. I’m sure they'll have something eighteen-year-old-girlish.” He cringed a little at the thought of that, but turned into the mall parking lot while giving himself a little pep talk. _Just pretend you’re shopping for Sammy and everything will be fine._ Yeah.

Five minutes later, he and Cas were standing in front of the colorful and intimidating mall directory sign, scanning through the list of shops helpfully arranged by category. Dean was sort of glancing around helplessly, looking for the closest store that had even a single teenage girl shopping in it.

“Oh, Dean! They have a store called Claire’s! I wonder if that’s some sort of sign? Should we try there?”

Dean refocused his attention on the directory, noting that Claire’s was listed under the section titled _Accessories, Shoes, and Handbags._ He cringed again, imagining a befuddling sea of whatever the hell constituted _Accessories_. Scarves, maybe? Or hair things? But he’d promised Cas they’d do this, and he was determined that at least one good thing would come out of this clusterfuck of a day. He could do this. If it would make Cas happy, then any suffering on his part would be well worth the effort.

“Sure, Cas. Let’s try there first.” Dean put a hand up to Cas’s shoulder and steered him away from the directory and out into the mall. He tried his best to guide Cas past distractions in as direct a route as he could, dodging around slow-moving window shoppers and the occasional errant toddler. Cas watched everything and everyone, smiling at a young boy who nearly ran into him at the entrance to the food court, and stopping to help a woman whose shopping bag had torn open. Dean was starting to think Cas would’ve been content to slow down and just observe everyone going about their business for a while, but they were on a mission. Later, he promised himself. Later, they would find a mall and just sit for a while, surrounded by humanity in all its mundane glory. Maybe get one of those soft pretzels and a lemonade.

He was distracted thinking about pretzels, so he was taken by surprise when Cas shook him off and walked straight up to two young women sitting on a bench outside the Gap, showing each other their new purchases. Dean ran to catch up with him before he got them reported to mall security for creeping on young girls, but when he did, he was pleasantly surprised.

“Excuse me,” Cas said. “I’m looking for a gift for… my daughter.” He’d hesitated at the word, but he got it out in the end. The girls looked up from their shopping bags, a little wary at first, but Cas must’ve looked just confused and pathetic enough to put them at ease. “Today is her eighteenth birthday, and I was wondering if you might know which store would be appropriate for such a thing?”

That was the moment Dean caught up to him, replacing his hand on Cas’s shoulder so he couldn’t escape again. “Don’t do that to me, man. I hate having to chase you down.”

One of the girls snorted into her hand, but the other grinned up at Hapless Dad Guy and his hot boyfriend, and said, “Sure, yeah. Try Hot Topic. They’ve gotta have something your daughter would like.”

Cas glanced over at Dean and smiled. “Hot Topic. That’s where we should go, then.”

Dean shrugged, and waved a hand at the two girls. “Can’t argue with the experts.”

Cas turned back to the girls and thanked them for their advice, before Dean pulled him away in the other direction, back toward Hot Topic.

“I hope your daughter has a happy birthday,” one of the girls yelled after them, before the both dissolved in a fit of laughter. Dean just kept walking.

They found Hot Topic pretty quick, but once inside, Cas was overwhelmed by the loud music and the odd collection of items for sale. Dean was immediately distracted by the wall of band t-shirts, and left Cas to browse the rest of the store on his own. Dean figured it was safe enough to let him wander around by himself to pick out a present. It’s not like he’d be much help figuring out what Claire would like.

Cas stopped at every display rack, looked over every plastic figurine and trinket, before moving on to the next. By the time Dean had picked out a few new shirts for himself (and a Led Zeppelin shirt in Cas’s size he’d find some excuse to give him eventually, because _come on_ ), Cas was still only about half way through the store. Dean decided it was time to get picking so they could get back to work.

“Find anything yet?”

“Not yet.” Cas was carefully folding up a pink t-shirt with a rainbow and a cat on it, emblazoned with the phrase _Death Metal_ in bubbly script. “I am unsettled to find that I once again do not understand any of these references.”

Dean grinned. “That’s pop culture, Cas. The references are always evolving. A one-time download ain’t gonna keep you in the loop for long. But to be fair, I don’t understand half these references, either.” He glanced over the daunting wall of slogans and images, picking out the few he was familiar with, and shaking his head at the rest.

Just then, Cas spotted a section of Grumpy Cat merchandise. “I recognize this cat.”

Even Dean had seen Grumpy Cat somewhere or other. He reached out and picked up the stuffed toy, holding it up for Cas to see it.

“Look at this poor bastard, goin’ through life looking fucking miserable all the time. It’s gotta suck.”

Cas studied the toy intently, a small frown overtaking his face, as if he were trying to emulate the cat’s expression.

“Yes,” he said finally. “Yes, I think this will do fine.”

“You’re gonna give Claire the pissed off cat for her birthday?”

Cas took the cat from Dean, and then positively beamed at him. “Yes. I think it’s perfect.”

Dean just stared at him for a second or two, wondering where he’d gone wrong enough that all of his life choices had led him to this moment. Buying a stuffed cat with an angel at a Hot Topic in Tulsa. Watching Cas pet the toy, flattening out its fur with his fingers while smiling down at it like… like a dad… yeah, he’d make all those mistakes again. He shook himself out of whatever the hell that was, and got back to business.

“Well, give it here then. I’ll go pay for it and get a gift bag.”

“Thank you, Dean.” He handed over the toy, and smiled up at Dean wistfully, as if this could actually be their life in some other universe. If they didn't have a monster to hunt down, and were planning a real birthday celebration for Claire. Dean smiled back for a long moment, wishing it were true.

“Yeah, Cas. You’re welcome.”

**Author's Note:**

> My daughter owns the pink Death Metal cat shirt. Of course she got it at Hot Topical.  
>  ~~Someday I will bother to figure out how to put a link in the end notes. Today is not that day. ~~~~~~Come cry about this episode with me on tumblr. I'm[MittensMorgul](http://mittensmorgul.tumblr.com/) there.


End file.
